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A wide choice of topics covered from the dawn of history right up to present days . Many of these have a wider relevance than purely within the context of Strathearn . The author's viewpoint often is at variance with the accepted opinions espoused elsewhere eg The Jacobite Uprisings and The Reformation .

The Ossian Stone or Clach Ossian in the Sma’ Glen near Crieff

The A 822road running
from Crieff to Amulree takesone through
the picturesque Sma Glen amidstsome of
the most spectacular scenery imaginable . Apart from itsnatural ruggedbeautythe road is steeped in Highland history. It was used by the drovers a s a
gateway to the lucrative markets on the periphery of the Lowlands. Places such
as Fowlis Wester and most notably Crieff where the annual Michaelmas Tryst was
a magnet for sellers and buyers alike. Much earlier in time it was the Romans who
realised the potential dangers that this natural route could bring and
constructed their “glen blocker “fort and watch tower at Fendoch where the Glen
truly begins or indeed ends! It was however a professional soldier from Meath
in Ireland who transformed the rough tracks into a well-engineered roadway. Major
General George Wade had carried out and a study of Highland Scotland in the
aftermath of the1715 Jacobite uprising
and had been appointed “Commander of the Forces in Northern Britain “by George I.
It was in 1730 that he started work on the Crieff to Dalnacardoch road which extended
to some 43 ½ miles or 70 kilometres. This road and the present highway share
much of the same route. Coming from Fendochthe roadtwistsand turns all theway to Newton Brig .About a milebeforethe bridge as theroadbordersthetumbling watersof the Almond , you suddenly espy an
enormousstanding stone . This is Clach
Ossian or Ossian’s stone!

Much has beenwrittenabout this megalith by a wide variety ofpeople including Sir Walter Scott and Macaulay.
Both these accomplishedwritersdidhowever relyon thewritings of an earlier scribeby the name of Edmund or Edward Burt . Burt
issomething of a mystery . His
narrativewasentitled “ Letters from a Gentleman in the
North of Scotland “ and were written about 1725/1726 but werenot publisheduntil after his death . After his death it was written thathe was an engineer officer who served with
General Wade in Scotland in 1724–28; an army contractor, and an illiterate
hack-writer who ended his days in dire distress. War office records fail to
show that Burt held military rank. The Scot’s Magazinepublished in 1755 declared inthe review of hisbook that he had died : “At
London. Edmund Burt Esq; late agent to Gen. Wade, chief surveyor during the
making of roads through the Highlands, and author of the letters concerning
Scotland.”

Fendoch

Whatever the true background of Burt , he nevertheless made an
impression on both Scott and Macaulay It was in 1736he wrote thus :

“ I have
so lately mentioned Glen Almond , in the road from Crief ( sic ) northwards , that I cannot forebear adigression , though at my first setting out ,
in relation to a piece of antiquity that happenedto be discovered in that vale not many hours
before I passedthrough it in oneof my journeyssouthwards.

A small
part of the way through this glen having been marked out by two rowsof camp – colours , placed at a good distance
one from another, wherebyto describethe intendedbreadth and regularity
of the roadby the eye , there
happenedto lie directly in the wayan exceedingly large stone , and ,as it had beenmade a rule from the beginning, to carry on
the roads in straight lines, as far asthe way wouldpermit, not only to
give them a better air , butto shorten
thepassenger’s journey , it was resolve
d that the stoneshouldbe removed , if possible , though
otherwisethe work mighthave been carried out along on either side of
it.

The
soldiersby vast labour , with their
levers and jacks or hand- screws, tumbledit overand overuntil theygot it quite outof the way , although it was notsuch an enormoussize thatit mightbea matter of great wonderhow it could everbe removedby human strength and art, especially to such who hadneverseenan operation of that kind ,
and , upon their digging a little wayinto that part of the groundwhere
the centre of the basehad stood , there
was founda small cavity about twofeet square , which was guardedfrom theoutsideearthat the bottom , top and side , by square flat
stones .

The
hollow containedsomeashes , scrapsof bones , and half burntends ofstalks of heath , which lastwe concludedto be a small remnantof a
funeral pile . Upon the whole, I think there is no room to doubt but it was the
urn of some considerable Roman officer , and the bestof the kind that could be provided in their
military circumstancesand that it was
so seemsplainlyto appearfrom itsvicinityto the roman camp, the enginesthat musthave been employedto removethat vastpiece of rock , and the unlikeliness that it should , or could, , have
ever been doneby the natives ofthe country . But certainly the designwas to preservethose remainsfrom the injuriesof rains or
melting snows , and to prevent their beingprofanedby the sacrilegious
hands of those they calledbarbarians ,
forthatreproachfulname , you know, they
giveto the peopleof almostall nationsbut their own .

As I
returnedthe same wayfrom the Lowlands I foundthe officer, with hispartyof working soldiers , not farfrom the stone , and askedhim whatwas to become to do so ; the urn.

To this
he answered , that he hadintendedtopreserveit inthe conditionI leftit , tillthe Commander- in- Chief had seenit , as a curiosity
, but thatit was not in his power to do
so ;for soon after the discovery was known to the Highlanders , they assembled from distant parts, andhaving formedthemselves intoa body, they
carefullygathered up the relics , and
marched with them , in solemn procession , to a new placeof burial , and there dischargedtheir fire – arms over the grave, as supposingthee deceased had been a military officer .

You will
believe that the recital of all this ceremony led me to ask the reason of such homage
to the ashes of a person supposed to have been dead almost two thousand years. I
did so; and the officer, who was himself a native of the hills, told me that they
(the Highlanders) firmly believed that if a dead body should be known to lie
above the ground , or be disinterred by malice , or by the accidentsof torrents of water , &c and care was
not taken to perform to it the proper rites , then there would arisesuch storms and tempests as would destroy their corn,
blowaway their huts , and all sorts of
other misfortuneswould followtillthat duty was performedand you
may here recollect what I told you so long ago, of the great regardthe Highlanders have for the remainsof their dead ; but this notion is entirely
Roman . “

Wades Bridge over the Newton Burn

There
are a number of points Burt’s article raises. He was advised of the actions of
the Highlanders by their officer in charge who too was a Gaelic speaker. The
incident occurred about 1736 and no mention was made of the name Ossian being attached
to the stone. Who, then, was Ossian? Ossianwas in fact inventedby a
gentleman called James MacPherson who claimedto have foundmanuscripts of
parts of Gaelic poems written by “ Ossian “ and publishedby himas a translation around 1760 .Theseprovedimmensely popularalthough they didarouse the

doubt of none otherthan Samuel Johnsonwho insistedthat MacPherson producethese documentsfor scrutiny . How then didthe name Ossian become associatedwith thisstone and grave in the heart of Glen Almond ? Author, Thomas Newte writingsomefifty years later in hisbook “ Tour
in England and Scotland “ reported that he was toldby
people living in the Glen that:“ the
people of the country , for several miles around , to the numberof three or four score of men, venerating the
memory of the Bard rose with one consent , and carriedaway the bones , with bag pipes playing, and
other funeral rites, and deposited them with much solemnitywithin a largecircle of stones , on the lofty summit of a
rock, sequestered andof difficult
access, where they might never morebe
disturbedby mortal feet or hands , in
the wild recesses ofWestern Glen Almond
"

What then is the factual evidenceconcerning this isolated megalith ? Itis in probability a glacial erratichaving been deposited at the en d of the
iceage . It issubstantial in sizebeingsome 7 ½ feet high ( 2.29 metres ) andapproximately5 feetsquare . What about the allegations that the
buriedremainsare thoseof a Roman officer ? Againquite
improbable . Yesindeedthe Romanshad a “ glen blocker “ fort and watch tower at Fendoch further up the Glen but theremainsappearto pre date this
periodand again in probability are
thoseof someone ofmuch greater antiquity .

Thisextract in the “
Northern Antiquarian “ is illuminating and refersback to 1834when the stone waspart of a
stone circle :

Described
in some of the archaeology texts as just a ‘cist’, this giant stone is
obviously the remains of much more.For
a start, as the 1834 drawing illustrates here (coupled with several other early
descriptions of the place), other visible antiquarian remains were very much
apparent at Ossian’s Stone before a destructive 18th century road-laying
operation tore up much of this ancient site.A marauding General Wade of the English establishment was cutting
through the Scottish landscape a “military road”, to enable the English to do
the usual “civilize the savages”, as they liked to put it.This curious “Giant’s Grave” was very lucky
to survive.

Let me conclude with a somewhat unconnected point of information ! Just some two miles further on from Ossian's Stone and over the Newton Brig lies a small field . It was her that scenes from the hit movie "Chariots of Fire "were shot depicting a young Eric Liddell !

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